In recent years, malt-based beverages, and especially beers, are a fast growing market in many countries such as China and India. In many commercial establishments, these malt-based beverages are dispensed from large commercial dispensing taps. However, such systems are not logical for adaptation for wide personal use. Rather, personal servings of malt-based beverages are independently packaged for transport and sale. However, the preparation and transportation of personal malt or cereal based beverages has come at great expense. Due to their nature, malt or cereal based beverages have traditionally been carbonated at their source and then transported to their end destination in amber or otherwise dark colored glass bottles or aluminum cans. Dark colored glass bottles and aluminum cans have been the traditional containers for the storage and transportation of malt or cereal based beverages because they provide secure containment of the carbonated liquid without the release of unacceptable levels of carbon dioxide during storage. Additionally, dark colored bottles and aluminum cans are configured to prevent the exposure of the malt or cereal based beverage to the degrading effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun or other light sources.
Traditional bottles and aluminum cans have also been designed to have generally cylindrical shapes due to the ease of manufacturing such shapes. However, the generally cylindrical shape of glass bottles and aluminum cans are inefficient for storage and transport. Cylindrical shapes are unable to be efficiently stacked for transport or storage without a large amount of wasted space between the cylindrical shapes. Furthermore, cylindrical shapes can typically only be stacked in a single vertical layer without becoming unstable for transportation. Consequently, square or rectangular structural containers and large amounts of packaging material are typically used for the transportation and stabilization of multiple cylindrical containers.
A need exists for a container that can be used for the efficient storage and transport of cereal or malt based personal beverages.